The funniest upholstery of the season has been found: a black and white damask that keeps popping up in "The Mystery of Irma Vep," to increasingly riotous effect. And when even the cloth is hilarious, you know that something is going right.
Director Sean Graney and actors Chris Sullivan and Erik Hellman, along with the exceptional design team and a superheroic stage crew, have achieved something remarkable: broad, exaggerated comedy that doesn't feel slapdash. And it's the right thing for Charles Ludlam's play. The script is a dizzying series of quick changes, extremely dirty jokes and unabashed silliness, and either subtlety or sloppiness would be deadly.
The play has two men playing all of the characters, men and women, in a demented parody of gothic novels, among many other sources. The plot is far too ridiculous to summarize, but it centers on the mysterious doings at the English manor Mandacrest. A werewolf, a mummy and a vampire figure in the plot, along with several helpings of dark secrets.
But plot construction isn't the point: it's the glorious cascade of characters, costumes and jokes. Graney and company understand that what makes this play great is its exuberant theatricality, and they play it to the hilt. The actors create extraordinarily detailed performances, combining stunning vocal and physical control with an outsize joy in putting on a show. The designs work together seamlessly, though special credit must be given to Alison Siple's deranged costumes. And the crew richly deserves the bow it gets at the end for the impossible things that it makes look easy.
But it's Graney, again proving himself one of Chicago's essential directors, who marshals the theatrical forces at his disposal. It's an extraordinary display of both craft and love — and I haven’t laughed so hard in a long time.
Reviewed by Centerstage!
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